Chapter 881

Like a whale at its most playful, it leapt high into the air, slamming down against the oncoming waves—though the crash was so loud it drowned out nearly all other sounds, those with sharp eyes still caught the ice whale's expression as it struck just above the ghost shark's head.

He had thought the shark-faced man was the ugliest thing imaginable, but Young Yuanzi discovered it could grow even uglier, twisting to a new height—and moreover, the ghost's mouth twitched at that very moment.

Before knowing how many cards the enemy still held, withdrawing from combat in an environment favoring the foe is a survival secret every ninja must master.

"Hahaha… Did you see that? That shark-face is so furious he looks like a pufferfish! Hahaha!"

After reaching safety, Young Yuanzi immediately began recounting everything she had seen, adding extra mockery—but among those present, only Xiao Jue laughed at her words; everyone else had no time to indulge her antics.

"Is Lin Cheng's injury serious?" Kakashi's tone was grave; he didn't even notice his soaked clothes—his mind fixated only on the scene he hadn't fully seen: what damage had the ghost shark's strike inflicted on Lin Cheng? His heart pounded with tension.

Mei was tending to Lin Cheng's wounds, while Zanbato, previously overlooked amid the chaos, had silently followed them here—now leaning against a tree trunk without a word, while Bai stood beside Mei, holding open the medical kit, watching with concern.

"No major issue—just a cut on the forehead from the chakra leaking off Jigoku's blade. The sutures in the medical kit are a mess. I'll use cryotherapy to stop the bleeding first; once we find a medical ninja, Senjōjutsu can heal it easily…" Mei's fingers emitted a faint chill, and as she brushed it over the wound, the bleeding ceased.

"Don't worry—I guarantee no scar will remain!" Lin Cheng had remained silent throughout, and Mei assumed the girl feared scarring, so she offered reassurance.

It wasn't that Zanbato couldn't defeat the ghost shark—he had weighed it: if he unleashed his full power, he had a ninety percent chance of killing that shark-faced man. But things weren't that simple—he had to divide his attention, not just from the enemy's threat, but from the risk of harming his own teammates if he went all out.

So under the premise that the opponent could fight freely while he was forced to hold back, the balance tipped against him.

The forest left behind resembled the gaping maw of a great shark—as if they stopped for even a moment, it would swallow them all whole.

"Hurry up… they won't give up!"

Correct… the Mist ninja would never abandon their mission, and the shark would never abandon its prey.

Before securing a certain victory, buy time—first, find a way to separate the ghost shark from his Jigoku blade. A weapon that drains an enemy's chakra raises its danger level exponentially!

Lin Cheng saw only red—her entire world drenched in blood, and faintly, the warm scent of blood reached her nose.

"Where… is this?" Her famed Byakugan was useless now; she felt all five senses had degraded to their lowest ebb—she could only keenly smell the blood, her vision reduced to a crimson haze, and her ears heard nothing but her own breath, not even her footsteps.

After careful recollection, she vaguely remembered: their attacker, the ghost shark, had concealed his chakra with Jigoku's blade, fooling everyone's perception and launching a surprise strike against Xiao Jue.

When she saw the ghost shark raise his blade to strike, Lin Cheng's primal instinct screamed to leap sideways—to avoid the blow she couldn't block. But for some reason, her body locked in place, standing rigidly before Xiao Jue.

Yes—Lin Cheng suddenly understood her true intention: was it ninja duty, or some strange emotion within? There was no time to discern—she only wanted to protect the helpless Xiao Jue behind her. For the first time, she willingly yielded to the voice inside her.

"It's worth remembering—you abandoned what you'd believed in for years, all for a child you've known only days. But I won't mock you for it. This is your choice, nothing more."

Yet even with such resolve, it was too late to act—now she found herself trapped in this strange place. What had happened?

"Such a conversation—aside from rare moments when you were asleep—this must be the first time, hasn't it?"